WHY STUDY LOGIC?

– 1. Order. Logic builds the mental habit of thinking in an

orderly way.
– 2. Power. Logic has power: the power of proof and thus
persuasion.
– 3. Reading. Logic will help you to read any book more
clearly and effectively.
– 4. Writing. Clear writing and clear thinking are a
“package deal”
– 5. Happiness. Logic can help you to attain happiness.
– 6. Religious faith. Logic can add faith.
– 7. Wisdom. Logic is philosophy’s instrument in the attainment thereof.
– 8. Democracy. The success of democracy depends, in the end, on the
reliability of the judgments we citizens make, and hence upon our
capacity and determination to weigh arguments and evidence
rationally.
– 9. Defining Limits - requires us to recognize and define logic’s limits.
– 10. Testing authority.
– 11. Recognizing contradictions.
– 12. Certainty. Logic has outer limits but has no “inner limits.” Like
math, it never breaks down.
– 13. Truth. Logic helps us to find truth, and truth in its own end; it is
worth knowing for its own sake.
LIMITS OF LOGIC

– 1. does not give us knowledge of the real world, at

least not directly, but only of certain aspects of
our thoughts. It does not consider real things, but
certain aspects of real things.
– 2. a mere tool of reason.
– 3. logic cannot control the truth. There are extra
logical means of attaining knowledge (experience,
insight into principles, authority)